WWE Reportedly Trying To Reconcile With Sasha Banks And Naomi
Could Vince McMahon's retirement pave the way for Sasha Banks and Naomi to return to WWE?
According to Dave Meltzer, WWE, under the leadership of Stephanie McMahon, Nick Khan and Triple H, has plans to reconcile with the former Women's Tag Team Champions.
"It's kind of up in the air. I mean, they're gone," Meltzer said on Thursday's Sports Illustrated Media Podcast."The last I heard was that there would be attempts made to reconcile, especially with Vince gone. So, it's up in the air. I don't think there's anything definite just yet."
WWE is planning to try and reconcile with Sasha Banks and Naomi with Vince McMahon now retired, per @davemeltzerWON pic.twitter.com/ItPy63J98U
— B/R Wrestling (@BRWrestling) July 28, 2022
Banks and Naomi have been off WWE TV since they infamously walked out on the May 16 "WWE Raw" episode. According to several reports, both women were on expiring contracts prior to their walkout. While Naomi was negotiating a new deal shortly before her exit, Banks' contract is set to expire sometime later this year, according to former WWE writer Kazeem Famuyide.
Earlier this month, WWE sent out a survey seeking fan opinion on its current crop of talent. To the surprise of many, the names of Banks and Naomi were listed in the survey, despite reports that both women have been removed from the company's internal roster.
Banks will make her first non-WWE public appearance at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo C2E2 next weekend. According to Fightful Select, The Boss is commanding an asking price of $30,000 per appearance, and she's currently accepting only non-wrestling bookings through 2022. It's unknown if Banks is unable to make wrestling-related appearances this year due to a contractual obligation.
Meanwhile, Naomi seemingly made a reference to her falling out with WWE when she wrote, "Anything that cost you YOUR peace is TOO expensive" on social media earlier this month.
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T recently urged Naomi to accept non-WWE bookings as well.
"I ain't thinking about friendships. I ain't thinking about buddies," Booker said on his "Hall Of Fame" podcast. "I ain't thinking about walking out with nobody on the roster, okay? It's just that simple. Looking at this for me, like I've looked at it for 31 plus years, it's a job man. How am I going to take care of my family at the end of the day? It's simple. Sasha, C2E2, $30,000, and Naomi, she's not on that show?"
"Exactly my point," Booker continued. "You better look out for yourself ... I can name my friends on two hands from this business, and most of them aren't wrestlers. It's gonna be the camera guy, referee, you know what I mean? ... A couple of the wrestlers, but [it was] very few and far between that I had good friends. Seriously."
H/T to F4WOnline for Dave Meltzer's quote